Physical restraint is a restrictive practice used in schools across the UK and there have been recent concerns around the appropriateness and frequency of using this intervention with pupils. Current data suggest that pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN), a vulnerable and diverse group, are experiencing the majority of physical restraint…

Traditional in-school approaches focus on using consequences for managing pupil behaviour. Within published literature, concerns have been raised about the effectiveness and negative impact of punitive approaches. This systematic synthesis explores the perspectives of children and young people (CYP) in secondary schools on in-school punitive…

Increasing evidence shows that punitive discipline is ineffective and detrimental. Using empowerment theory and the opportunity-to-learn conceptual framework, this literature review seeks to broaden school personnel's knowledge of alternative discipline interventions. Searching ERIC and JSTOR databases, we looked for English language, North…

Research indicates school personnel use punitive and exclusionary discipline practices more often with students from particular racial and ethnic groups. In response to these trends, many researchers suggest a need to adapt experimentally validated social, emotional, and behavioral interventions to align with cultural characteristics of students.…

The use of aversives as a method for behavioral intervention in U.S. public schools has been a persistent concern and often subject to litigation, particularly among students with disabilities. The use of aversives (restraint, seclusion, and corporal punishment) have been supported in some cases due to their perceived necessity to keep children…

Autism is currently one of the most prominent and widely discussed human conditions. Its increased prevalence has intensified the demand for effective educational and therapeutic services, and intervention science is providing mounting evidence about practices that positively impact outcomes. The purpose of this report is to describe a set of…

We conducted a systematic analysis of studies that involved the treatment of rumination and operant vomiting in individuals with developmental disabilities. A total of 21 studies involving a combined 32 participants were identified and analyzed in terms of (a) participant characteristics, (b) dependent variables, (c) intervention procedures, (d)…

Since the Millennium, the use of physical punishment in the home has been a widely debated topic across the UK. Reliance on public opinion has been an important feature of this debate with a variety of UK surveys showing that many find physical punishment acceptable and do not support a complete ban on smacking. Drawing on the results from a…

Reviews research on overcorrection, a behavior reduction procedure, and considers its applications to special education in terms of punishment aspects and effects on generalization and maintenance. Advantages (including its effectiveness) as well as disadvantages (such as the length of time it requires) are pointed out. (CL)

The article reviews various therapies for hyperactivity including pharmacological and behavioral therapies. The heterogeneous nature of this population suggests that punishment procedures used as part of a behavioral management intervention may be effective in establishing responsible behavior and warrant more research. (Author/DB)

Gentle Teaching, a treatment philosophy for reducing maladaptive behaviors of mentally retarded people, employs methods to reduce or eliminate problem behaviors without using punishment. Analysis indicates a lack of evaluation data for Gentle Treatment and suggests the Least Intrusive Treatment model should not be abandoned. (Author/CB)

Programs serving troubled youth continuously struggle with the issue of using physical restraints and other coercive interventions. This paper revisits the issues and motivations surrounding restraint use. It offers an analytic perspective on the physical restraint cycle and the factors that tend to support its recurrence. (JDM)

The literature review looks at self-injurious behaviors in handicapped students in terms of characteristics, prevalence, etiology (biological, psychological, and as learned behavior), and management including extinction, positive punishment, negative punishment, and reinforcement of other behaviors. Problems in areas of management, administration,…

Inadequacies of the basic literature on punishment may limit its application in public school settings with mildly and moderately handicapped students. A large research void exists concerning such basic issues as how the timing, scheduling, type, and intensity of punishment affects children's behaviors in applied settings. (SEW)

Sixteen studies were analyzed that employed single-subject designs focusing on conduct disorders in preschoolers. Results indicated that reinforcement produced most positive outcomes, followed by punishment, timeout, and differential attention. Subject characteristics such as sex, handicapping condition, and target behavior typically bore little…